That's interesting. Where do you stand with the US? I obviously support England but, like Germany, they're a difficult team for a neutral to get behind. They lack any real romance but you can't help where you're born. Needless to say, for two months every four years I'd love to be a Brazilian but for the other three years and ten months, I breath a sigh of relief that I'm not.

I suppose my 'second' teams are Holland and Argentina, while my 'pet hate' side is probably Italy. Just horrible.



The first round is always like that. Everyone's too busy trying not to lose. The second round should see things open up a lot more. My only disappointment so far is that I've not seen enough from any of the underdog sides to makes me think we might be in for any kind of major cup upset.


You did well sleeping through it. Worst game of the tournament so far.

Slovakia really disappointed me earlier. They should've won but they seemed to want to just coast to the finish-line and were predictably tripped up just before they reached it by a far more up-for-it New Zealand.

oh, i want the US to win & go as far as they can, but i know they suck and i don't like their style of play (kick and run, kick and run: dullsville). that's the doing of coach bradders-- i liked them better when bruce arena was coach, even though his players were not as good as this new batch.

i like teams with good control of the ball, who make nice plays-- that's why i was in such awe of germany the other day. they are playing like argentina should, touching the ball to get around the defense, and strangely, they seem to have shirked their propensity for rough play. they really put on a good show.

many years ago, when i was a furrner, i witnessed the brazil-usa match in a bar full of gringos, and me and maybe another 5 people were cheering for brazil. we didn't get lynched, it was a very civilized thing, even after the US lost. but that was ages ago and now that i'm welcome here i have lots more affection for Team 'Merica. it's just not a national sport yet, though-- give it a few years.

I thought that Ivory Coast played lively, and it was a decent match. I enjoy them all.

Then again, I only watch futbol when it is the world cup and know nothing about the players.

although Portugal would've been favourites, Ivory Coast have some very ggod players indeed. Drogba alone would make it into any international squad. With Eriksson as their coach though, they're bound not to maximise their talents.

Ronaldo seemed like the only Portugese player even bothering. I still think that's just early-tournament caution (and they are in a group where any kind of slip could mean an early exit) but I'm surprised how ineffective they were. Still, atleast I managed to get a very welcome 10 points from Alvez and Tiago.

The early rounds are always a bit cautious, no?
How long ago did they institute this new first round? I read that in the older days of the Mundial the first round was a win or go home endeavor like the later rounds are now.

The excitement when Drogba entered the match was awesome. even injured he scares the competition.

I think teams just do not want to lose their first match. the better teams will attack much more in their upcoming matches.

Very exciting stuff for a sports fan such as myself!

Why am I not surprised at the lack of other patrons

The second half of Ivory Coast/Portugal was certainly cleaner and better football than the first. Best comment by the commentator talking about Ranaldo perchance for flopping "he'll go down at the slightest chance of contact, in fact a puff of wind."

What a shame for Slovakia they look like they could be a surprise team if they remember from now on to play until the final whistle. I'm sure they'll rebound and be heard from later on.

I feel for you _Slavo_

Totally agree about the Bruce Arena era. He did have a fair crop of players that were always good to watch, but they never really looked like contenders. Bradley's team are 'better' but far less entertaining.

I love the passing game you're talking about, which is part of why i love Argentina. Their brilliance is that they don't just play pretty football (which is usually the case with 'flair' teams') but are utterly ruthless.

Brazil are the epitome of that but under Dunga they've become almost Italy-like - with an emphasis on almost. For brief spells, Brazil can just play any team off the park but most of the time they're just really well organised. I still think that 82 Brazil team are the closest football has come to producing art. I remember going to school after that World Cup and, even though Brazil never even won it, everyone wanted to be either Zico or Socrates. The last time I think that happened was with Maradona in 1990 (that's after I'd left school, though, so I can't confirm his playground currency).

Anyway, speaking of Brazil. They're about to start now, so ... laters.

i hate italy too, i feel bad about it, since my hatred reached a fever pitch last world cup when they beat one my favorites,france, in the middle of an italian bar i said "fuck,i hate italy alot" and got quite a few dirty looks(i didn't do it on purpose, just the intense hatred took me over)


i feel the same way about england


if neither of those teams wins i'm happy

so far it seems that the N Koreans are into it defensively huh?

the scrawny north koreans are giving their all and brazil is sucking in a major way. sure, they have to overcome 8 to 11 defenders, but their domination of the game is only superficial. that korean #9 is pretty good.

funny, this is a situation where individual ability could find a hole in that defense.

i'm not liking brazil.

so far the best south american team i've seen is paraguay. things can change as the tournament progresses of course, but brazil is almost making me want that north korea wins.

here's hoping brazil changes this useless scheme in the 2nd half.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6qMXi5n4I

remember guys, everyday is very important........

North Korea have been awsome
i think everyone likes to see beautiful 1 touch passing football but there's nothing i like more than seeing a good defensive peformance. So well organised, so determined, don't give a fuck about reputations and that guy up front is working harder than most of the brazil team. I can genuinly see them scoring on the counter.
Robinho looks very very good

i thought Potugal Ivory Coast was a good game too. Maybe i've got low standards being a Palace fan. 3 passes and a clean tackle is like ballet to me

fuck, I got up to take a dump and missed the gol!

Bought one of these for that very reason.



In red and white, obviously

ha ha ha ha

drink your coffee beforehand

i had to leave for the last 15 minutes (appointment that couldn't be changed) and just found out the score. shame!!! good on north korea but dunga will be crucified by the press.

cheeto, telefutura has evening reruns of the games. make sure you're 100% empty before you catch that.

crucified, why? they deserved that one.

also it's a well known fact that brazil is never impressive against teams they underestimate and/or initial stages of the world cup.

well known fact.

everybody was expecting 4-0. number of goals scored can make a difference when you're tied in points, so it was up to brazil to squeeze all the advantage possible from this game.

but maybe after seeing portugal fuck up with ivory coast they decided not to push it.

fyi, in 2006 brazil beat japan 4-1, in 2002 they beat china 4-0, and costa rica 5-2, chile 4-1 in 1998. but ok, it's the first round-- maybe they won't crucify him-- yet.

ps- in this poll in o globo, 20% consider the team's performance "mais out menos", 40% "ruim" and 25% "horrorosa"

http://oglobo.globo.com/esportes/cop...-916886397.asp

look down the bottom of the first paragraph where it sez "( Gostou da atuação do Brasil? Vote )"

duh, mr obvious, but if you place 1st you play an easy team (the 2nd of the adjacent group) in the next round. less nerves, less fatigue, less injuries, better chance to make it to quarterfinals in one piece. italy placed 1st in its group in 2006 thanks to goal difference. if brazil places 2nd for some reason, they'll likely face spain in the next round. (well let's see how spain plays).

plus, the embarrassment of placing 2nd for brazil!

"ruim" "horroroso"